2 teens indicted on murder, battery charges in fatal hit-and-run of bicyclist captured on video
Oct 6, 2023, 6:23 PM
FILE - Las Vegas police Lt. Jason Johansson speaks during a news conference about a series of hit-and run-crashes, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, in Las Vegas. Two teenagers were indicted, Friday, Oct. 6, on more than a dozen charges, including murder and burglary, after police say they targeted and killed a bicyclist while driving a stolen vehicle. (AP Photo/Ty O'Neil, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Ty O'Neil, File)
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Two teenagers were indicted Friday and charged as adults with several felonies, including murder and auto theft, after allegedly recording the moment they targeted and fatally struck a bicyclist in a Las Vegas hit-and-run.
Police have said they tied the teens, who were 17 and 16 at the time, to at least three hit-and-run incidents the morning of Aug. 14. The indictment expands on the charges the teens were already facing.
The Associated Press is not naming the teens because of their age at the time of the alleged crimes. Messages seeking comment that were left late Friday with the teens’ attorneys, P. David Westbrook and Daniel Hill, were not immediately returned.
The alleged hit-and-run incidents include the crash that killed cyclist Andreas “Andy” Probst, a 64-year-old retired former police chief from the city of Bell, outside Los Angeles, who was pedaling along the side of a road when he was hit.
The video, shot from the front passenger seat of an allegedly stolen vehicle, shows it approaching Probst from behind on an otherwise traffic-free road. Male voices can be heard laughing as the vehicle steers toward Probst and rams the bicycle. Probst is thrown backward across the hood and into the windshield. He is then seen on the ground next to the curb.
Along with murder and residential burglary, the teens were indicted on charges of battery, attempted murder and residential burglary, and multiple counts of automobile grand larceny and possession of a stolen vehicle.
The younger teen also was indicted on a charge of possessing burglary tools.
Under Nevada law, the most severe sentence the teens could receive on the murder charge, if convicted, is 20 years to life in state prison, not the death penalty. That’s because they were not 18 at the time they were accused of the crimes. One of them has since turned 18.
Both teenagers are in custody without bail.
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Stern is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Follow Stern on X, formerly Twitter: @gabestern326.
